More 2012: Judge strikes down FL voter-registration measure

FLORIDA: “A federal judge on Thursday struck down a key part of Florida's recently revamped election laws, saying the Legislature's restrictions have made it "risky business" for third-party groups to register new voters,” the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald write. “U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle told the state it cannot require groups to submit voter registration forms within 48 hours or face $1,000 fines. Nor can the state force those groups to disclose names of volunteers who don't collect the forms, Hinkle ruled.”

“A lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters and New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice ends with a ruling -- cheered by Democrats -- halting implementation of some pieces of a controversial Florida voter registration law,” Politico writes.

“The Justice Department ordered Florida's elections division to halt a systematic effort to find and purge the state's voter rolls of noncitizen voters,” the Miami Herald writes. “Florida's effort appears to violate both the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities, and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which governs voter purges, T. Christian Herren Jr., the Justice Department's lead civil rights lawyer, wrote in a letter sent late Thursday night.”

WISCONSIN: “The outcome of the election on Tuesday will not just decide the state’s leanings on matters of budget, taxes and policy, as well as the ultimate trajectory of Mr. Walker’s fast-rising political prospects. It will also send a message about a larger fight over labor across the country, and about whether voters are likely to reject those who cut collective bargaining rights, as Governor Walker did here last year for most of the state’s public workers, setting off this battle in the first place,” the New York Times writes. “Broadly, the results will be held up as an omen for the presidential race in the fall, specifically for President Obama’s chances of capturing this Midwestern battleground — one that he easily won in 2008 but that Republicans nearly swept in the midterm elections of 2010.”

But would a Walker win really impact November’s election? A Marquette poll out Wednesday showed Walker leading by seven points, but Obama leading by eight.

“The first vote hasn’t been cast in the recall election of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, yet labor unions already are offering excuses for why their efforts to oust him could fall short,” Bloomberg reports. “The election is no longer a fight over workers’ rights to engage in collective bargaining, which sparked the recall, union leaders say. The debate has turned to the economy and negative campaigning. In addition, they say, recall supporters are facing a significant financial disadvantage after Walker raised more than $20 million this year -- five times that of his opponent -- in his quest to keep his job.”